The origins of the Englewood Fire Department date back to the Roosevelt administration — Teddy Roosevelt, that is.
That longevity is a big part of the reason city leaders are having so much trouble deciding what to do with their 106-year-old firefighting force.
Plans to merge or consolidate with a larger fire department, like Denver, or with a nearby fire protection district, like South Metro, have been on the table for more than a year.
But the pull to remain autonomous remains strong.
“People seem to have this overwhelming desire not to lose our individuality,” Englewood Councilman Rick Gillit said. “They see our fire department as not just a service but an asset.”
It’s why Gillit and several on the council are wracking their brains trying to figure out how to get more funding for badly needed station improvements and new firetrucks while preserving the 59-member institution as its own entity. The council is expected to make a decision on the issue in the next two months.
“People do want to feel like they have local control over their fire and emergency medical services,” Englewood City Manager Eric Keck said. “There is that pride and tradition.”
But Keck said things at the Englewood Fire Department can’t continue as is.
According to a study issued by Emergency Services Consulting International early last year, the city’s three fire stations are in “poor” condition, especially with regard to air quality. Englewood also needs to come up with more than $1 million to replace aging vehicles, including a ladder truck, an ambulance and two command vehicles, the report concluded.
ESCI commended Englewood Fire for consistently good service but warned that the “underlying support systems and programs are seriously strained and are at risk to fail.”
Englewood Fire Chief Andrew Marsh said the trouble was brought into sharper focus this past summer when one of his firefighters was injured by a ceiling collapse at a dual structure fire in Littleton, with which Englewood has a mutual aid agreement.
But Englewood is still struggling with whether it makes sense to continue running its own fire department when the trend has been to take advantage of firefighting agencies with larger economies of scale.
In 2004, the Denver Fire Department took over operations for Glendale, which has a population of 4,500.
It did the same with Sheridan a few years later.
And South Metro Fire Rescue Authority serves the cities of Castle Pines, Centennial, Cherry Hills Village, Foxfield, Greenwood Village, Lone Tree and Parker, covering 176 square miles and protecting 195,000 residents.
Englewood is looking at bids from Denver Fire and South Metro to take over the department. It is also .
“Where does the fire department best fit — is it Englewood or not?” Keck asked.
Todd Bower, a deputy chief with Denver Fire, said his 900-firefighter force could “tailor a package” to fit Englewood’s needs. The cost would be around $4.5 million a year, he said.
South Metro’s chief, Bob Baker, said his agency’s $6.5 million annual bid would mean that Englewood will never find itself short of a crucial piece of equipment.
Baker said his agency has four aerial trucks with buckets and 274 line firefighters.
“It is very difficult to maintain a small fire department in today’s world,” he said. “Regionalization has a lot of positives for both agencies.”
Englewood spends around $7.5 million a year to run its fire department.
Chuck Line, deputy city manager for Glendale, said the $2.1 million a year arrangement with Denver has reaped “huge cost savings” for the city.
Fire equipment these days, he said, is very specialized and very expensive. If a pumper truck suddenly goes out of service, for example, it’s no longer Glendale’s problem to fix.
“We didn’t have predictability of cost before — now we do,” Line said.
But Gillit said his constituents overwhelmingly want the Englewood Fire Department to operate well into a second century.
He acknowledged it will take additional investment not being made now, but he said residents are willing to pay to keep firefighting operations in house, including the prospect of a possible bond issue on the ballot next November.
“While most people are against tax hikes, they aren’t against them when it comes to funding our fire department,” Gillit said.
John Aguilar: 303-954-1695, jaguilar@denverpost.com or twitter.com/abuvthefold
